- Monday, May 9: 5:30pm Funeral of a Priest, followed by Viewing
- Tuesday, May 10: 9am Divine Liturgy, followed by Funeral Service (approx. 10:15am), with Interment at Skyview Memorial Park in Hometown, PA. A mercy meal will follow the interment in the vicinity of the cemetery.
All services will be held at St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church (directions) and will be presided over by His Grace, the Right Reverend Bishop THOMAS.
Read Fr. Theodore’s obituary.
The Very Rev. Archpriest Theodore J. Mikovich (affectionately known as “Fr. Ted”) was born on September 18, 1945, to Orthodox parents, John and Anna (Goida) Mikovich in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, with two sisters, Helen (Berezniak) and Dorothy (Macenka). He was baptized by the Rev. John Zeliniak in St. John’s American Russian Orthodox Church (American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese) in Nesquehoning. It was in this church that as a young boy he served as an acolyte. It was also at St. John’s that he began a life long career in teaching when he became a student religious education teacher. There he received the Boy Scouts of America “God and Country” Award, known in the Orthodox Church as the Alpha Omega Award.
Fr. Theodore was a graduate of Nesquehoning High School and East Stroudsburg University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. He also earned a Master of Education degree from East Stroudsburg University. He was certified to teach kindergarten through eighth grade in the state of Pennsylvania. In 1967 he began his professional teaching career in the Salisbury school district.
On July 5, 1969, Fr. Theodore and Kh. Joanne were married in St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They have two sons, Gregory, married to the former Catherine Reese, and Christopher, married to the former Jillian Jordan, as well as grandchildren.
Under the spiritual guidance of the Very Rev. Dimitri Voytilla, Fr. Theodore continued active church service as an acolyte, reader and adult education teacher at St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church (OCA) in Bethlehem. He became a member of the Department of Education at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, and in 1983 he was accepted into the seminary as an extension student.
On February 27, 1991, Fr. Theodore was tonsured a reader and ordained a subdeacon by His Grace Bishop NICHOLAS of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese. Under the spiritual direction of the Very Rev. Robert Rebeck, he entered the Deacon Program at the Annunciation Retreat Center in Tuxedo Park, New York. On July 18, 2002, he received a Master of Arts degree in Applied Orthodox Theology from the University of Balamand in El-Koura, Lebanon, via the Antiochian House of Studies.
In November 1993, Fr. Theodore became a member of St. Paul’s in Emmaus with the Very Rev. John Kahle as his priest and father confessor. On September 28, 1997, he was ordained to the diaconate at St. Paul’s by His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN. On May 16, 1999, Bishop ANTOUN ordained Fr. Theodore to the holy priesthood, and he was appointed pastor of St. Paul’s upon the retirement of Fr. John.
Fr. Theodore served as pastor through June 2009, when he retired from active ministry. On October 18, 2009, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest by His Grace, Bishop THOMAS. In retirement, he continued to serve in various parishes, including as interim pastor for a number of months at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, following the untimely death of its pastor.
On May 5, 2016, after many battles with stroke-related illnesses over a two-year period, Fr. Theodore reposed in the Lord.